In July, the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) held its annual conference in Tarndanya (Adelaide) focusing on innovation in tertiary education. This event brings together both academics and professionals, to share research, projects and ideas. Newcomers to HERDSA often remark on the friendly, collaborative atmosphere, where people from all roles and levels freely exchange help and resources.
This year, ANU had a strong presence.
Sean Perera (CASS) heading into HERDSA for the start of the conference
Stephen Dann from the College of Business and Economics demonstrated the outcome of his project collaboration with Patrick L’Espoir Decosta. Using a 3D map that takes inspiration from subway maps, and making use of the ANU Maker Space, they made a physical representation of course connections, highlighting where professional requirements and graduate attributes are embedded. This unique approach uncovered hidden opportunities and enhanced communication among course conveners and tutors. You can view the map at the College of Business and Economics (Building 26C).
Stephen Dann (CBE) discussing his 3D model of the Marketing major
The roundtable with Guddu Kaur (National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, NCEPH) and Sue Sharpe (Centre for Learning and Teaching) discussed approaches to making educational escape rooms inclusive. They also launched the new guidelines for Creating an Educational Escape Room (Kaur, et al., 2024) written in collaboration with April Chan (Centre for Learning and Teaching) and Bernardo Pereira Nunes (College of Engineering and Computer Science).
Sean Perera (College of Arts and Social Sciences) presented findings from student consultations that he and Grady Venville, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), conducted on perceptions of transdisciplinary content in the curriculum. The research is timely, given the related graduate attribute is set to be embedded in the undergraduate curriculum by 2025. Their findings revealed many students had limited awareness about the expectations of transdisciplinary learning and teaching. Overall, students favoured coursework that extended across discipline boundaries, addressing real-world complex issues such as climate change and equality (Perera, 2022).
Sean Perera (CASS) looks at the full and varied HERDSA conference schedule
Sumaira Ejaz Qureshi from the University of Canberra (UC) presented a showcase co-authored by Joanne Thandrayen (NCEPH). This project was part of a cross-university collaboration between the UC and ANU, looking at the student and staff engagement with the UC student experience survey. Recommendations to increase response rates included supporting staff to implement changes from feedback, and helping students see the impact of their responses in creating change. A peer-reviewed paper with detailed findings and recommendations will be presented at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) later this year (Chua, et al., 2024), which will guide the approach to UC’s upcoming new student feedback platform.
Sumaira Ejaz Qureshi (UC) standing in front of the title slide of her presentation, which she co-authored with Luke Nguyen-Hoan (UC) and Joanne Thandrayen (ANU)
Other ANU presentations included Sue Sharpe’s roundtable, in a cross-institutional collaboration. The discussion focused on how communities of practice can support staff development. The full program and abstract books are available on the Conference website. HERDSA 2025 will be held 7-10 July in Boorloo (Perth).
Sue Sharpe (ANU) co-presenting at a roundtable with colleagues Jennifer Sun (University of Sydney) and Melissa Saligari (University of Melbourne)
References
Chua Q, Sun K, Morao K, Qureshi S, Thandrayen J. (2024). Enhancing Sustainable Education through Digital Feedback: A Pilot Study on the Effectiveness of the Student Feedback Interface. Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) (under review).
Kaur, Guddu; Chan, April; Pereira Nunes, Bernardo; Sharpe, Sue (2024). Creating an Educational Escape Room: Evidence-informed guidelines. figshare. Online resource. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26211896.v1
Perera, Sean (2022). Perspectives of Transdisciplinary Curriculum Content at ANU. Academic Portfolio Initiates SharePoint
Sue Sharpe is an Education Designer at the Centre for Learning and Teaching and Fiona Hennig is the Team Leader of Professional Learning at the Centre for Learning and Teaching
